Festival MARTO - Puppets and Objects

MARTO: Twenty-six editions of an art at the crossroads of everything

The puppet is one of humanity's oldest arts. It is also one of the most vibrant, inventive, and surprising. This certainty presided over the birth of the MARTO Festival in 2001 in Hauts-de-Seine – a bold gamble on an art form that many reduced to children's entertainment, but which has since consistently proven its ability to deeply move adults.

MARTO – Marionnettes and Objets (Puppets and Objects) – asserts a dual artistic identity from its very name. It encompasses not only traditional glove or string puppets but also all forms of object manipulation on stage: object theatre, table theatre, shadow theatre, bunraku, marottes, figures, materials... The festival constantly explores all dimensions of this protean art with curiosity.

A collective and territorial festival

One of MARTO's unique features is its collective and decentralized organization. The festival is not concentrated in a single location but occupies nine towns and structures in the Hauts-de-Seine department simultaneously: Malakoff Scène nationale (Théâtre 71), L'Azimut / Théâtre Firmin Gémier - La Piscine (Antony and Châtenay-Malabry), Théâtre de Châtillon, Théâtre Victor Hugo (Bagneux), Théâtre des Sources (Fontenay-aux-Roses), Le Temps des Cerises (Issy-les-Moulineaux), Université Paris-Nanterre, and Les Gémeaux Scène Nationale (Sceaux).

This collective approach strengthens the festival's territorial roots and allows diverse audiences, spread across the entire department, to discover puppet arts without having to travel far from home.

A festival for adults, above all

MARTO proudly claims a primary focus on the adult audience. While general and family-friendly shows are offered, the programming centers on puppetry in all its complexity and depth: works that embrace ambiguity, darkness, corrosive humor, philosophy, and politics. Companies like Stéréoptik, the Frères Forman, and Yngvild Aspeli represent the vitality and constant renewal of this art form.

The 2025 Edition — 25th Anniversary

The 25th edition of the MARTO Festival took place from March 7 to 26, 2025, in nine towns in Hauts-de-Seine. This anniversary edition featured fourteen shows and installations of great richness: live animation films by Stéréoptik, dystopian theatre, documentary object theatre, Shakespeare's Richard III with life-size puppets by Yoann Pancolé, and La Conférence des Oiseaux by the Frères Forman under a big top.

The 2026 Edition — 26th Edition

The 26th edition of the MARTO Festival runs from March 13 to 29, 2026, with 16 shows and 34 performances in the nine partner towns. The program includes Hyperborée by Camille Panza, Le Petit Théâtre du Bout du Monde - Opus II & III by Ézéquiel Garcia-Romeu (Théâtre 71), Trust me for a While by Yngvild Aspeli, Natchav, Mons la girafe, and YSS.